Internal coupling for awning rollers



July 21, 1942. H. c. HEISER INTERNAL COUPLING FOR AWNING ROLLERS Filed Nov. 28, 1941 mmw Hell/y [/fieisr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INTERNAL COUPLING FOR AWNING ROLLERS Henry C. Heiser, Parma, Ohio, assignorto The Astrup Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 28, 1941, Serial No. 420,817

7 Claims. (01. 287-126) The invention relates generally to rollers on which canvas awnings are wrapped or rolled, the rollers being journaled at the side of a building over a window or the like. More particularly,

to handle and apply, "and economical to manufacture.

These and other objects areaccomplished by the present invention, which may be defined in the invention relates to improved coupling means .5 general terms as including two parallel flat bars for attaching two sections of'awning rollers toyieldingly held in spaced apart relation and movgether end to end for providing an awning roller able toward each other for insertion into "the of extended length. ends of pipe sections to be connected together,

Awning rollers are nearly always made from and having screws insertable through the remetal tubing such as steel pipe, and due to the spective pipe sections for forcing the bars apart fact that many awnings exceed the twenty foot to provide edge contact between the bars and length of standard :pipe there is a great demand each pipe section at four circumferentially spaced for couplings for attachingthe ends of pipe secpoints. tions together to form an extended awning roller Referring to the drawing forming part hereof: of the required length with a smooth exterior 5 F gu e 1 s a fragmentary w p y in surface. tion of two awning rollers connected together Prior couplings for awning rollers usually have by the improved coupling means; been heavy malleable iron coupings of circular Fig. 2 is a detached side view partly in section construction about a foot long, and having raised of the improved coupling means, withthe screws portions or ridges one for contacting the inside for expanding the same removed; and of each pipe section, so that each size of pipe Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view as on line '33, requires an individual size of coupling. Due to Fi the fact that the inside diameters of steel pipe Similar numerals reier to similar parts of the same size vary as much as inch, it is throughout the several figures of the drawing. very difiicult to obtain a snug and rigid fit be- Two pipe sections 4 and -5 are shown in Fig. 1 tween the corresponding size of coupling and the held in end to end relation by the improved pipe sections connected thereby. Accordingly, Coupling means, the abutting ends of the pipe it is usually necessary to grind off the ridges on sections forming a joint indicated at 5- e the coupling or to insert shims between the coup p Sections 4 d 5 thus o an w in r er pling and pipe sections in order to obtain 'a, proper of extended length having a smooth exterior suriit and avoid any play when the'roller is rotatace. ing. The improved coupling means includes a pair Moreover, with couplings in which th parts of fiat metal bars 1 and 8 which are maintained inserted into the abutting pipe sections are cirin p r llel r lation by means of rivets 9 slidably eular, a contact at only t o points is u an inserted through holes 10 defined in the end obtained because of the non-uniform and varyportions of the bar 1 and through holes H in ing inside dimensions of pipes of any standard the bar 8. The rivets 9 are each provided with size, with the result that the pipe sections are heads 12 and 13 a their ends for limiting the mis-aligned and the awning roller sags and rises expanding movement of the here, that the at the joint at every quarter turnof the roller. movement of the bars y from each Other- It is therefore an object of the present inven- Means for yieldingly urging the bars apart tion to provide a novel and improved coupling preferably includes helical springs l4 encircling for awning rollers which will accurately fit th the rivets between the bars, there being sockets inside surfaces of standard pipes having varying l5 DrOVided in the bar 1 receiving the pp inside dimensions. ends of the springs l4 and sockets It provided Another object is to provide a, novel improved in the bar 8 for receiving the lower ends of the coupling which will contact the inside surfaces p s of abutting pipe sections. in such a way as to Accordingly, in the detached position of the rigidly hold the same in alignment while rotating. improved coupling shown in Fig; 2, the springs A further object isto provide a novel and im- 59 yieldingly hold the bars in expanded or spaced proved coupling for awning rollers, which will fit apart position, with the bar I abutting the rivet the inside surfaces of a range of sizes of tubular heads I 2 and the bar 8 abutting the rivet rollers. heads l3.

A still further object is to provide a novel and One of the bars, for example the bar 1 as shown improved coupling which is light in weight, easy in the drawing, may be provided with threaded of the springs l4 and the bars I and 8 are thus 1 held while being inserted into the ends of the rollers 4 and 5 to such an extent that the bars extend an equal distance into each of the rollers. The rollers are provided with holes l8 through their walls which holes are adapted to register with the threaded holes H in the bar I. The fact that the springs l4 always urge the bars 1 and 8 toward spaced apart position, as shown in Fig. 2, makes it easy to insert and locate the bars in proper position in the rollers 4 and 5, be cause the bars do not have to be pried apart and held apart by the operator.

After the bars have been manipulated to bring the holes I! into register with the holes l8, hollow headed set screws I 9 are inserted through the holes I8 and screwed through the holes I! until their ends abut the inner surfaces of the bar 8, as shown in Fig. 1. By then screwing the set screws in farther, the bars I and 8 are further expanded or forced apart and their outer edges held in contact with the inner surfaces of the pipes 4 and 5, in the manner shown in Fig. 3.

Thus, regardless of varying inside pipe dimensions, the bar 1 contacts the inner surface of the pipes 4 and 5 at the edges 20 and 2|, and the bar 8 contacts the inner surfaces of the pipes at the edges 22 and 23, so that the edges 2!], 2|, 22 and 23 provide four circumferentially spaced points of contact between the coupling means and the pipe sections.

The result is that the pipe sections are rigidly held in alignment so that there is no sagging or raising of the awning roller at the joint 5 during rotation. The hollow headed set screws H! are adapted to pass within the outer surfaces of the rollers so that a smooth exterior surface of the rollers is provided for wrapping the canvas thereon.

The amount of movement of the bars 1 and 8 toward and away from each other is sufficient to permit the use of each novel coupling with a range of sizes of pipe; for example, one size of coupling will fit three standard sizes of pipe, instead of requiring one size coupling for each size of pipe.

While the improved coupling .is particularly adapted for connecting awning rollers, it can be used to couple other tubular members end to end within the scope of the appended claims.

The present improved coupling is light in weight, easy to handle and manipulate, and economical to manufacture. Moreover, the only installation labor required is the drilling of one hole in the end portion of each of the rollers to be connected, and then inserting the set screws through said holes and screwing them into the coupling until it is fully expanded.

I claim:

1 Coupling construction for connecting tubu lar awning rollers in end to end abutting relation, including two fiat bars for insertion into the ends of said tubular rollers, means yieldingly holding said bars in parallel spaced apart relation, and means for positively forcing said bars apart for making contact between two edges of each of the bars and each of said tubular rollers.

2. Coupling construction for connecting tubular awning rollers in end to end abutting relation, including two flat bars for insertion into the ends of said tubular rollers, means movably connecting said bars in parallel relation for limited movement relative to each other, and means for forcing said bars apart for making edge contact with each of said tubular rollers at four circumferentially spaced points.

3. In an awning roller having tubular sections abutting each other in end to end relation, coupling means for connecting the tubular sections including flat bars for insertion into the ends of said tubular sections, means movably connecting the bars,'means yieldingly urging the bars apart, and means accessible through each of said tubular sections for positively forcing said bars apart into edge contact with the inner surfaces of said sections.

4. In an awning roller having tubular sections abutting each other in end to end relation, coupling means for connecting the tubular sections including flat bars for insertion into the ends of said tubular sections, means yieldingly urging the bars apart, and means accessible through each of said tubular sections for positively forcing said bars apart into edge contact with the inner surfaces of said sections at four circumferentially spaced points.

5. In an awning roller havingtubular sections abutting each other in end to end relation, coupling means for connecting the tubular sections including flat bars for insertion intothe ends of said tubular sections, means movably connecting the bars, and means accessible through each of said tubular sections for forcing said bars apart into positive clamping contact with the inner surfaces of said sections at four circumferentially spaced points.

6. Coupling construction for connecting tubular awning rollers together in end to end abutting relation, including two flat bars for insertion into the ends of said tubular rollers, rivets connecting said bars in parallel. relation for limited expanding movement away from each other, springs between said bars for urging them apart, and means for positively forcing said bars apart to contact the edges of the bars with the inner surfaces of the awning rollers.

'7. Coupling construction for connecting tubular awning rollers together in end to end abutting relation, including two flat bars for insertion into the ends of said tubular rollers, rivets connecting said bars in parallel relation for limited expanding movement toward and away from each other, springs between said bars for urging them apart, and screws threaded through one bar and abutting the other bar for positively expanding said bars away from each other to contact the edges of the bars with the inner surfaces of the owning rollers.

HENRY C. HEISER. 

